Mcmorrow On Top In High Court Race

1st Woman Nominated For Post

Mary Ann McMorrow, a veteran Illinois Appellate Court judge, appeared to have defeated seven other Democrats Tuesday to become the first woman nominated for a seat on the state`s highest court.

With about two-thirds of the vote counted, McMorrow had a 43,000-vote edge over lawyer Michael J. Howlett Jr. in her race for a Cook County seat on the Illinois Supreme Court that traditionally has been filled by a Democrat. A spokesman for Howlett said the candidate had conceded.

The other candidates-including maverick Democrat John P. Tully, also an appellate judge-were trailing well behind.

The eight Democrats were competing for the seat now held by Justice William G. Clark, who is retiring at the end of the year.

Robert C. Buckley, also a veteran appellate judge, defeated lawyer Themis Anagnost in the GOP primary.

The Cook County seat was one of three vacancies on the state Supreme Court up for election this year.

In early returns elsewhere, four Republicans were locked in a close race to succeed retiring Justice Thomas J. Moran in the 2nd judicial district-which includes Du Page, Lake, Kane, McHenry and nine other counties in northern Illinois.

A key issue during the campaign was the endorsement of George Unverzagt, a veteran appellate judge, by state Sen. James ``Pate`` Philip, Senate Republican leader and Du Page County GOP chairman.

Unverzagt said Philip was a longtime friend and a former high school classmate, but there was resentment from some Republicans, even in Du Page, at what was perceived as an imperial gesture by Philip.

No Democrats were on the ballot in the 2nd judicial district.

In southern Illinois, three Democrats and two Republicans were battling over the 5th judicial district vacancy that resulted from the death last year of Justice Horace Calvo.

Also on the judicial ballot were state Appellate Court contests in Cook County and the 3rd judicial district-which includes Will and 20 other counties across northern and central Illinois.

And Cook County voters were confronted with a bewildering array of candidates for Circuit Court judge, including 134 who were running to fill vacancies for the first time in the county`s newly-created judicial districts, similar to legislative districts.

There were 31 seats on the circuit bench up for election in the 15 districts, called subcircuits.

In the 3rd judicial district, there were two Appellate Court vacancies, but the only contest was on the GOP ballot.

Herman Haase, a veteran Will County judge who was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Appellate Court, was leading Moline lawyer Ray Choudry with about 20 percent of the vote counted.

The winner will face Democrat Peg Breslin, a lawyer in Ottawa and a former state legislator, in November.

Republican John A. Gorman, a judge since 1979, and Democrat Tom M. Lytton, a lawyer in East Moline, were unopposed in their respective primaries. McMorrow, who made an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the state Supreme Court two years ago, won the endorsement of the county`s Democratic Central Committee in December, but only after her supporters beat back a surprise challenge by high-profile personal-injury lawyer Philip H. Corboy Sr.

Corboy, who had come to the slatemaking session with the backing of influential House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), vowed to stay in the race through the primary but changed his mind less than 24 hours later, opting instead to rededicate himself to his lucrative law practice.

McMorrow also had to fend off suggestions that she was less sympathetic to abortion rights than the other candidates.

Though judicial ethics prohibit judges from taking positions on legal issues during a campaign, most of the candidates managed to put out the word that they favored abortion rights.

At an Appellate Lawyers Association forum last month, Dom J. Rizzi, an appellate judge, conveyed that message by quoting from one of his rulings.

Among other issues in a lively campaign was the credibility of the judicial evaluations done by major lawyer groups.

Lawyer Edna Selan Epstein called the process political after she was stung by negative evaluations from the 22,000-member Chicago Bar Association and the reform-minded Chicago Council of Lawyers, which contrasted with the exceptionally well qualified rating that she received from the 32,000-member Illinois State Bar Association.

The state bar, though, found five of the eight Democrats and one of the two Republicans exceptionally well qualified. Another of the Democrats was considered well qualified.

The only candidate given a negative evaluation by the state bar association was Tully.